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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Nick Kotik |
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Kotik releases statement on 2011-12 budget
HARRISBURG, June 29 – State Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Allegheny, released the following statement as to why he is voting no on the 2011-12 state budget:
"I have been a firm advocate for controlled spending especially in a time of economic recovery, however, this Republican-controlled budget is taking it to the extreme by inflicting deep cuts that are simply unnecessary.
"There is a $700 million surplus Governor Corbett and those under his Republican ideology are refusing to use. It's not their money to decide. It's not their money to keep. It belongs to the people who pay their fair share, who pay their taxes. And what does this budget do? It punishes the very people who that money belongs to.
"This budget comes at a time when Pennsylvania taxpayers cannot afford to pay more out of their own household budget. Do not let Governor Corbett fool you; this is not a no-tax budget. It is a tax shift budget. Working people, middle class and retirees will pay for this blatant tax shift.
"A tax shift takes the burden off the back of the state and puts it on counties and local municipalities. It translates into higher county taxes, higher local taxes and higher property taxes, thanks to the Republican plan that fails to properly fund public education.
"Instead of protecting big corporations and natural gas companies it would have made more sense to make them pay their fair share. However, Governor Corbett and legislative Republicans are choosing to continue to protect these big oil and gas companies. They are standing by and watching thousands of state employees lose their jobs and students lose access to education, yet corporate giveaways are okay.
"The fallout from $1 billion in education cuts stands to be catastrophic. What happens to the schools that have already been on the funding bubble for years? The poor are about to get poorer and no one wants to see another school go into distressed status. I'm not seeing any effort on the governor's part nor on my Republican counterparts' behalf about how we're going to handle these schools when they hit rock bottom.
"From basic education to higher education, it's the students, their teachers and their families are going to suffer. Carlynton, Chartiers-Valley, Cornell, Montour, South Fayette and Sto-Rox school districts are losing up to 10 percent of state funding this year. It's the classic case of taking two steps forward, one step back. This is not the time to take away pre-K programs, force classes sizes to grow or to raise the cost of college tuition," said Kotik.
Kotik represents the 45th Legislative District in the state House of Representatives. This includes the townships of Collier, Kennedy, Robinson, Scott, South Fayette and Stowe, and the boroughs of Bridgeville, Carnegie, Coraopolis, Heidelberg, McKees Rocks and Pennsbury Village.
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